Monday, October 17, 2005

View John DeStefano's new ad

John DeStefano released a new television ad which will hit the airwaves this week on all the Connecticut television stations. I guess this ad is coming out now to counter the press Gov Jodi Rell has received over the last couple of days since she announced her intentions on running for governor.

If you don't want to wait, I just posted the commercial and you can download it now.

UPDATE: You can now view the ad on DeStefano's website by clicking here

So here's the progression of the ad (and the basic theme of the campaign):

1. Connecticut is in crisis. Even if you don't know it yet, it is.

2. But there's hope! Things can change.

3. Our candidate has a great background. He's a family man. He's like you.

4. He's done great things in New Haven. New Haven is a lot better than you remember.

5. He'll do great things for us, too.

No real substance yet, but it's early. A little negative for a first impression. People don't have to be told when there's a crisis: they figure it out for themselves. If a candidate pushes crisis too hard when the public doesn't feel there is one, that candidate becomes vulnerable to charges of negativity. That's the route the governor is going.

Otherwise it's a solid campaign piece. I do think, however, that people are going to be surprised to see it on the air a year before the election. Then again, the ad is meant more for the party base than anyone else. It lets them know that the Democrats are alive and kicking, and that this campaign will be hard-fought. As a message to the base, it succeeds very well indeed.

This is why Genghis is the man as he nails it. This ad is aimed at the Democratic base and not for the entire state. I think (like his DVD) that this is a smart move by DeStefano as the ad could take some of the attention off of Gov. Rell and serve as a reminder to DeStefano's base that the Democrats are in this race also.